Saucon Valley School Board race attracts a big field

The slate of candidates vying for the Saucon Valley School Board is one of the biggest in recent years, with 11 people cross-filing for four seats.

Their motives for running differ but all share certain concerns: keeping property taxes in line, striking fair deals with the teachers' union, improving academic standards and figuring out how to deal with the looming crisis of massive mandated increases in contributions to the state pension fund.

Saucon Valley has had a tumultuous recent history, enduring a long period of labor strife, including two strikes, before the board and union reached a long-term contract in 2009.

Here, the candidates offer brief summaries of their reasons for running. The primary is May 21, with the top four vote-getters in both parties earning spots on the November ballot.

• Cedric Dettmar, 52, of Lower Saucon, a software engineer making his first bid for office: "I'm running primarily because I have two kids in elementary school and we plan to be here for a long time," he said. "One of the reasons I moved my family to the Lehigh Valley was the quality of the schools. At the time we made our decision, Saucon Valley was probably peaking [academically]. …Test scores were really good then, are most mostly good now except in the high school, where we've dropped down to the mid-point so that it's very much an average high school. We do have a great stock of teachers and an opportunity to fix the things that have changed. But we have to keep the line on taxes. It's going to be a real tough balancing act."

• John Dowling, 65, of Lower Saucon, retired financial executive: "I am running for the board because I believe the Saucon Valley teachers union is attempting to take control of our school board in order to negotiate a very favorable contract, to the detriment of the taxpayers and the community at large," he said. "I am independent of the school union and the administration and can balance the needs of the students and the costs to our taxpayers. I have the experience of serving on the boards of two colleges, Muhlenberg College and Walsh University, and St Luke's Hospital and Good Shepherd finance and investment sub-committees. I can balance conflicting needs and wants."

• Janie Hecker, 63, of Lower Saucon, a retired educator who served two board terms from 1996 to 2003: "The issue that is the same for every school district right now is the funding problem," she said. "It's been created partly by the economy and partly by the way schools are funded by the commonwealth. The state constitution says the commonwealth is to provide a thorough and efficient education. … At one time, commonwealth funding to districts was about 50 percent. Now a lot of efforts get shoved onto local districts [without funding]. In a district with a lot of businesses, the effect on homeowners isn't as bad, but in a district like Saucon with a lot of homes, the burden falls on the homeowner."

• Ed Inghrim, 70, of Lower Saucon, a retired engineer and incumbent: "From my perspective, there are 500 school districts in the state of Pennsylvania and all of us are facing that cliff known as the pension," he said. "That is the biggest challenge school boards have. Saucon Valley from a financial perspective is in better shape because we have been relatively fiscally conservative. The current board was able to begin to control the spending and as a result of that we're in good shape in the next couple of years."

• Russell Lebkuecher, 57, of Hellertown, a caterer and chef who owns The Meadows in Hellertown and self-described conservative: "I think everything is a business," he said. "I just want to keep fiscal responsibility in the district. I think we can have good teachers at a fair price. We really can't afford another strike. As a businessman, I think I can bring things in layman's terms to the board. I think some of the decisions they make are made too fast and without common sense. I might be crazy for doing it, but I have to try."

• Sandra Miller, 52, of Lower Saucon, a self-employed property manager and incumbent: "School districts have the formidable task of providing a quality education while facing funding constraints due to the lack of appropriate state funding," she said. "Pressure from the [pension] crisis and unfunded mandates lead districts to chose between programs with staff and raising taxes. We have been fortunate that we have not raised taxes and have not made major staffing cuts that hurt programming. This year, we are faced with choices again that pit the budget against some educational programs. We need to make the right choices for both the community and the students we are committed to educate."